


Autumn Wheezes

by note_a_flat



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: Alec Hardy - Freeform, Broadchurch - Freeform, F/M, Fluff, Tumblr Prompt, ellie miller - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-05-08
Packaged: 2018-06-07 01:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,017
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6778981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/note_a_flat/pseuds/note_a_flat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ellie matches her breathing to Alec's as they lie on the sofa he thinks it's funny to play a little prank on her. Needless to say, Ellie is not impressed.<br/>Written for hardythehermitcrab and rexalexander on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autumn Wheezes

Miller was watching the dying flames in the fireplace and listening to the howl of the autumn wind outside when she noticed that Hardy’s hand that had been moving up and down her arm had stilled. Carefully lifting her head from its resting place on his chest she looked at him, finding him fast asleep. Smiling she snuggled back into him and closed her eyes. His heart beat reassuringly steady beneath her ear and his breathing was slow and even. 

They had been in a relationship for just over four months now and cuddling on the sofa had become one of their favourite pastimes. Especially now that Hardy had replaced his old worn out sofa that always caused a crick in his neck with a new and extremely comfortable one. 

Lucy was minding Tom and Fred for the night and so Hardy had invited her out for dinner. The evening had been lovely as ever (they had made quite the habit of eating together) and she was feeling much more relaxed now than she had all week. And of course when he asked her to come to his little blue hut to check out the aforementioned newly acquired sofa she hadn’t said no. If it made him feel better to come up with an excuse to get her to stay over she wasn’t going to stop him. 

So here they were, and considering the week she had had, Ellie was quite surprised that it was Hardy who had dropped off first. Being much too comfortable in her current position to even consider moving she decided that there wasn’t much point in waking him up to relocate to the bed right now. Instead she stretched her arm to pull up the blanket conveniently located at the end of the sofa, draping it over them both. 

Soothing as it was to lie in Alec’s arms, Miller soon discovered that it was to be one of those nights when her mind wouldn’t quiet down. She sighed and shifted a bit, not at all interested in contemplating the random thoughts flittering through her head. Focusing on his heartbeat again she closed her eyes and tried to match her breathing to his in an effort to force her body to sleep. She was absolutely wrecked so it really shouldn’t be as much of an issue as it was turning out to be. 

Ellie was just starting to drift into sleep when she felt his breathing change. She raised her head to look at him blearily, trying to see if he had woken up, but his eyes were closed and he still looked just as relaxed as before. Deciding he was probably just dreaming, she lowered herself back down and started breathing with him once more. 

Only when she started to feel slightly out of breath did she realise that his breathing had gotten much more ragged. Her heart skipped a beat and she scrambled to push herself up on her elbows. Was he having another one of his wheezing attacks? They were few and far between now that he had gotten the pacemaker, but they still happened and she’d woken before to find him sitting up in bed gasping and choking on air. 

“Shit.”, she muttered when she heard his breath catch in his throat. She started shaking his shoulder with one hand, the other was still on his chest where she could feel his lungs fill with air. 

“Alec? Alec, wake up!” Her voice rose in volume when he didn’t stir, and she shook his shoulder some more. 

“C’mon don’t do this to me! Dammit, Hardy, wake up!” Seriously scared now, she tried to shift off him, but to her surprise his arms tightened around her and he shook beneath her. 

His eyes were open, glittering with mirth. It took her a moment to realise he was laughing. 

“You bastard!”, she screamed, furious, trying to get off him again, this time to be in a better position to shout at him. But he just held on tight and buried his face in the crook of her neck to muffle his laughter. 

“You wanker! I thought there was something wrong with you, you bloody knob!” 

He pulled away a bit to look at her again, still laughing. There was some more wheezing and coughing and suddenly he was fighting to get her off him and catch his breath. 

“Oh no you don’t!”, Ellie growled. “I’m not falling for it again.”

“Miller.”, he gasped, coughing loudly. There was a rattling sound coming from his chest. “Not… joking…now.”, he managed to get out. 

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.”, Ellie muttered, but finally moved off him so that he could sit up and try to calm down. Not quite forgetting that she was still angry with him, she rubbed circles on his back and when his breathing sounded almost normal again, she got up to get him a glass of water, which he took gratefully. Setting the empty glass down on the table, he looked up at her. Miller was staring down at him, hands on her hips, hair dishevelled, eyes blazing. 

“‘M sorry.”, he muttered, awkwardly scratching his neck, hoping he hadn’t just ruined the rest of the evening. He still thought the look on her face was priceless, but he felt bad for scaring her.  
She sighed and held a hand out to pull him up off the sofa. 

“You should be. That really wasn’t funny. Sometimes I don’t know why I put up with you.” His eyes lit up at that and he bent down to kiss her. She always said that when she calmed down after a fight. 

“I love you, too, Ellie.”, he whispered against her lips and she rolled her eyes, pulling back a little. 

“Doesn’t mean you’re not a knob, but I might just forgive you.”

“Yeah, but I’m your knob.”, he mumbled. “Come to bed?”

“Yes.”, she said, a smile on her face, then added with a grin, because she knew he kept tabs on how often she said it back: “I love you.”


End file.
